At a time when the dysfunction in Washington, D.C. is at its highest and public approval of Congress is at its lowest, it is heartening to see some renewed focus on significant workforce development issues.

Evaluation calibrates the achievements against the National Fund's initial goals -- including the number of individuals and employers served as well as its growth in scope and scale. Most important is the evidence that the core principles are demonstrated in practice and that adherence to the principles correlated with higher performance across the sites.

As a single mother and soon-to-be, first-time grandmother, Maria desperately needed to find work. Unfortunately, she'd been out of the workforce so long, her skills were no longer applicable to the marketplace.

More than 630,000 families across the 13-county region are not financially self-sufficient. They are headed by adults who lack the education, training and experience needed to fill middle-skill jobs that pay enough to support a household.